The Dragon Heir and Tagging

As a sort of follow-up to the previous post, I would like to note that I have finished reading the third book, The Dragon Heir. I had some difficulty getting in to the book at first, but the farther I got in the story, the better it got. By the time I finished, I had experienced a breathtaking finale. I would definitely recommend this book by Cinda Williams Chima. Just read the first two books, The Warrior Heir and The Wizard Heir first!

As for tagging... I have been tagged by Firefly, creator of the blog A Road from Douglas County. The idea is that you write seven random things about yourself and then link to seven blogs. Those seven blogs are then tagged. Anyway, I don't know seven blogs, but I do know a couple so I won't have the required amount there but I will have some.

Seven Random Things About Me

1) I knit all the time. In fact, I have been knitting so much this is my first blog post in a month. *gasp*

2)There is a standing joke that I was born in the wrong time period because I don't use electronics very much compared to most people my age. I scarcely even get on the computer. Except to blog.

3)I wear size 8 shoes. The facts are supposed to be random, right? :)

4)I did ballet for around 6 1/2 years but finally quit about 3 months ago. I now am playing tennis, and after 3 weeks of lessons I now can hit the ball over the net. Sometimes.

5)I am a vegetarian.

6)I am wearing 4 bracelets that I put on in early September and haven't bothered to take off since.

7) My favorite flavor of ice cream is mint chocolate chip. Yum!

A Few Blogs I Read

It's Lovely! I'll Take It! Can't... stop... laughing...pant....pant...

LushKnits The blog of one of my favorite knitting designers... I love her patterns!

Wool And More ... A fellow knitter.

Reflections from Sophie She just started. Also a fellow knitter, she was the one who taught me to knit.

The Warrior Heir

It just occurred to me that sometime I ought to make a list of “Top Ten Books/Series I’ve Read” or something like that. In any case, this book would definitely be on there. The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima is AWSOME! Chima really has an excellent imagination. Never before have I come across the concept of a “Weir stone”. A Weir stone is a sort of magical inheritance. Without a Weir stone, a Weir (person with Weir stone) dies.

Jack was born without a Weir stone, so his Aunt Linda located a wizard named Jessamine Longbranch to surgically implant a Weir stone in him. Jack was born a wizard, one of the five types of Weir. His Aunt Linda therefore expected Jessamine Longbranch to implant a wizard’s stone. Longbranch had other ideas, however. She chose to place a warrior’s stone instead. This book is about what happened because of the mixed-up Weir stone, and a deadly Game that Jack can’t avoid.

I would recommend this book to anyone 5th grade and up. I also suggest its sequel, The Wizard Heir. I just found out that there is a third book, The Dragon Heir, which came out in August. I haven’t read it yet, but I can’t wait to stick my nose in it!

Later: I read The Dragon Heir! It was excellent!

Fablehaven

New layout! Hope you like it!

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull is a fun filled adventure about a secret wildlife preserve. When Seth and Kendra come to visit their grandpa while their parents go on vacation, they are in for a shock. From angry fairies to tempting naiads, malicious demons to carefree satyrs, the surprises just keep coming… and coming…. and coming…

For awhile it seems like a fun visit (though with a few mishaps). But then, out of the blue, comes a whispering of the Evening Star. A foul organization, the Evening Star, wishes to take over the preserve, and many more like it, scattered throughout the world.

I really love this book with all its fantastical creatures and displays of magic. It is very imaginative and Mull really makes you feel like you are walking by the naiads’ pond, or calmly observing an illusion of butterflies that flock around a mirror to look at their reflection.

I would recommend this book to anyone 4th grade and up. But be careful as the sign proclaims in the front of the book:

“FABLEHAVEN
None
Who Enter
Will
Leave
Unchanged

Trespassers
Will Be
Turned To Stone”
Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

Chicks with Sticks (It's a purl thing)

Alas. I had to return the books I mentioned in a previous post so now I can’t look in them to make sure I’ve spelled a character’s name right or gotten things in the right order. They all were awesome books, but I think my favorite was The Saint of Dragons by Jason Hightman. It was slightly easier than I’m used to, but not by all that much.

Anyway, when we returned the books we went ahead and picked up a load more. While walking down the row and ½ of books that is the teen section, I spotted this book called Chicks with Sticks (It’s a purl thing) by Elizabeth Lenhard. This isn’t really my type of book, me being the person who normally gets bored if there isn’t a dragon and knights in shining armor. Yet from the first page to the last, I loved it. It is hilarious! I laughed through nearly the entire book! The funniest part is that Ms. Lenhard is either obsessed with Lion Brand yarn or she struck a deal with them saying she would use the book to advertise the company. Granted, Lion Brand yarn is pretty good, and I have used it before with pleasure. If you need worsted weight though, I would buy Plymouth’s Jeanee. It feels cool knit up, is washable, and it’s cheap. Being a knitter myself, I understood more of the book than a non-knitter would. However, I think even a non-knitter would enjoy this book of friendship new and old.

This book is about Scottie, a high schooler who has just lost a favorite aunt. In her grief, she doesn’t know what to do. Then she remembers a certain ball of yarn and a pair of needles, bestowed upon her by an anguished relative. With her new knitting needles and that blue ball of yarn, Scottie soon finds herself in the nearest yarn shop. Unfortunately, her friends think this newfound interest is dorky, weird, and, most importantly, extremely UNCOOL. So naturally, when Scottie’s best friend Amanda marches into the yarn shop and starts knitting, it can be assumed that if you’ve got a pair of needles, anything can happen.

I definitely would suggest you read this book, even if you just get it for the two patterns at the back, both of which proclaim that you should use Lion Brand yarn. :)

A Wizard of the Earthsea

A Wizard of the Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin is the tale of the young wizard Ged, whom from an early age showed extraordinary magical ability. His first display of this was when he saved his entire village by covering it with fog, so that the brutal invaders from Kargad could not find nor harm the villagers.

After this a wizard came and took him to be his apprentice, but it was not long before Ged was sent to a wizard’s school in Roke. There he met Jasper, a proud, rather big-headed boy a few years older then Ged. Eventually, he challenged Jasper to a contest of power. Jasper scoffed, obviously thinking himself better. To prove that he was powerful, Ged summoned a dead spirit. The remainder of the book is about Ged’s quest to put the malicious spirit back to sleep.

My grandmother who used to be a Language Arts/English teacher recommended this book to me ages ago, but I had some trouble finding it. This book is excellent. Ursula Le Guin’s writing style is unique but spellbinding, and definitely works well with this story.

Note: This is the first book in a series, but I don’t know how many books are in the series or what their titles are.

Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood

After walking by this book for months at my school library, I finally picked it up from the town library and read it. I wish I had read it sooner! This intriguing book by Meredith Ann Pierce was excellent. I recommend you read this imaginative novel.

Hannah is a girl who lives on the edge of the Tanglewood, a forest feared by the nearby village. She is under the custody of an evil wizard who lives at the heart of the forest. Once a month, she is forced to make a drink for him from the plants that grow in her hair. Yet she does not rebel until a time when she forgets to make the drink, and the wizard brutally pulls the plants from her hair himself. After that Hannah was careful to give him weak drinks, because pulling all the plants from her hair weakened her. However, she still did not attempt escape until one of the knights spoke to her. Usually, the knights would ride their horses into the depths of the forest, and nothing anyone said or did could stop them. They never came back.
This is a story of Hannah’s quest to save the knight who spoke from a dreadful curse, and on the way find out who she is, for the wizard never told her, and she can’t remember.

Having been reading like crazy, here is a list of books that should be appearing on this blog in the near future:

• A Wizard of the Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
• The Saint of Dragons by Jason Hightman
• Maddigan's Fantasia by Margaret Mahy
• Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge (the title fits perfectly)
• In the Stone Circle by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
• The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien (second in the Lord of the Rings)

The Wanderer

The Wanderer by Sharon Creech is a book of overcoming fears, confronting memories, and facing your problems. It is a wonderful book for a smile and a personal view of a hectic journey across the sea. The way of writing is unlike any good books I’ve read before. However, Sharon Creech is so talented she can make the multiple points of view work, and work well in this Newberry Honor Book.

Our main character, Sophie, is a girl of opposites. She loves the ocean and always wants to be on a boat, but at the same time is deathly afraid of it. An orphan, Sophie has been adopted by a husband and wife living in the U.S.A. When her new cousins and uncles decide to take a trip across the sea, sailing from the U.S.A. to England in order to visit Bompie, (their grandfather) she hops on board. This is a tale of their voyage across the fearsome blue.

I suggest you read this book. The Wanderer is an amazing story. Rosalie, oh Rosalie!